Slashdot Mirror
Slashdot Subscription Update
By far the biggest complaint that we heard was from users who either hate paypal, or simply don't want to mess with it. I'm not going to go into the politics of that issue here, but it's a valid complaint. As we've explained countless times, we picked paypal first because it was simple and quick and planned to support credit cards directly as soon as we worked the kinks out of the system. And now that's happened. I'm still interested in other payment mechanisms and I'm open to suggestions as to what they might be.
Complaint number two was from people who didn't like the metered subscriptions. Again, this is a very valid complaint. I've already explained why it was essential that we impose some sort of limits, so what we've implemented is a new option called Max Ads. What it does is limit the number of pages you choose to view ad free on any given day. By default, that is 10. So even if you view slashdot 20 times a day, your $5 subscription will still last 100 days with the default setting of 10 Max Ads. Of course, you can up that number too.
Subscribers still have the ability to choose what page classes you suppress ads on. Simply hiding ads on Articles and Index, but seeing them on Comments is enough for the vast majority of readers to never hit the default Max Ads settings. At those settings, the subscription fee for a year on Slashdot would be on par with a typical magazine.
So far we've been really pleased with the turnout: 2% of our logged in users have chosen to subscribe, and we really hope that number will increase since such a huge number of readers expressed support for the subscription system, but distaste for paypal.
As we explained earlier, a large part of our decision to suppress banner ads was so that we could start accepting other ad formats, but give users an option to support Slashdot, without seeing these new ad formats. These other ad formats are highly desirable and should allow our sales folks to get contracts that we would otherwise be ineligible for. Web Advertising is a highly competitive field, and these ad formats make it possible for us to compete.
The last thing I'm mentioning here is Subscriber Plums. We have a variety of things that subscribers will eventually have access to. We're certainly open to reasonable suggestions, and we'll announce them as they come online. As I've said before, we won't be taking away things from non-subscribers, just rewarding those who are throwing quarters into the guitar case. More on these plums at a later date.
Thanks to the subscribers, as well as to those who click on our ads and support us by supporting our advertisers. You guys are helping to ensure that Slashdot sticks around for a long time.
$0.70 a day, you too can join in the millions to help out the poor, starving /. editors.
Karma? Karma? I don't need no stinkin' karma.
we really hope that number will increase since such a huge number of readers expressed support for the subscription system, but distaste for paypal.
Distaste for PayPal? That's a pretty mild way of putting it. How about extreme distrust and fear of lost funds. Or just distaste, I guess. Good job, anyway.
Mike
I can live with ads popping in slashdot. It can get annoying for me but it won't actually hurt me anything.
How about an option to hide the always annoying, never clever CowboyNeal option in the poll? That'll get some people subscribing...
"People that quote themselves in their signatures bother me" - athakur999
Seriously: is this a reaction to Mastercard's decision to make things a lot more difficult for Paypal users?
Great, Rob, throw this out while the blackout is going on, so the "hard-core" discussion mongers won't be able to contribute. :)
I do wish you'd list what kinds of Subscriber Plums will be out there, though. I'm kinda-sorta waiting to see "what's in it for me" before I subscribe; if you wait too long I may just get used to the big fattie ads and not care about subscribing.
Just my feedback, without a name since I am kinda-sorta supporting the Great Slashdot Blackout.
I think one of the main things that attracts people to slashdot is that it is not commercial and there is a sense of community (a very twisted one at that). Slashdot is a great FREE site and thats as far as it goes. I wish you guys all the success but I really don't think it will make much money. Slashdot is never consistent (which is a terrible business model) , so how can you expect to make a business out of it? Business involves planning and consistency. I for one don't want to pay for a service that at is heart is free and should always be free.
Sounds like you still purchase a number of pages, but after your daily allotment of pages, you still view those annoying ads. It's only a partial block this way.
I feel that this is a half-hearted solution to the "number of pages" problem, and still refuse to subscribe until a true time-based subscription scheme is implemented.
If I weren't nailed to the penis, I'd be pushing up the daisies!
I miss the banner ads! Can't you make the slashdot logo link, jump, and wiggle?
-russ
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
From what I could tell on the IRC conversation, the /. editors promised to avoid Flash ads. I have noticed a few in the past couple of weeks, along with the "extra-big" sized banner ads on the top. Has anyone seen a statement where they said they would start accepting Flash ads now?
"The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent." --Carl Sagan
Most important to many of you is that we now can directly accept Credit Cards in addition to paypal.
As someone who has never used PayPal, the fact that Slashdot is directly accepting credit cards may be enough of a reason for me to subscribe. I use a debit card for online purchases so I never get a bill so this would be an effortless purchase.
As with the sun's light
My mom was magnificent
Unquestionable
You just got $5.00 out of me. :-)
Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
How about revealing some MRTG style stats of usage types and subscription numbers?
I know it might be considered marketing data, but how many competitors does Slashdot have anyway?
At least, I better say it before someone else says it in a more distasteful way.
:) I couldn't think of a better way to get their goat.
Good timing, announcing this during the blackout. The very people who have the most to say on this topic must remain silent.
MUHAHAHA, way to go Taco!
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
the ads suck, they get in they way, and we will contitune to junkbust them.
Just like the "Great Crack-Out" to get people off smoking crack!
I see this topic come up, I expect to be accosted by Sally Struthers...
You catch enchiladas by picking them up behind the head and holding them underwater until they don't kick anymore -VeGas
I am wondering if a subscription is required to moderate.
I used to be able to meta-moderate and I used to be asked to moderate about once a month. Since the subscription service came out I have not been able to meta-moderate or been asked to moderate. Is there any connection?
One of the things I would be really interested in if I choose to become a member is something like the google zeitgeist. It could show things like browsers used to connect, number of hits by time of day, OSes used to connect etc. The google Zeitgeist in a way is a snapshot of what the google searchers are most interested in at a given point in time. A similar system for slashdot could be a very interesting snapshot of the geek/nerd community.
-F
At the intersection of computation and biology.
Every time JK posts an article it will take one penny away from your account, and it wont show the JK article! (make the show posts from moderator a for pay option for JK) :)
These other ad formats are highly desirable...
/. because they start putting that crap here too!
God help us if Slashdot resorts to floater ads. There's more than a few sites that implemented these ads that once i was subjected to, i never returned.
I hope i don't have to find an alternative to
There are 01 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and me.
omg, get a life
I for one don't want to pay for a service that at is heart is free and should always be free.
Uh...OK. How about we host it on your server?
-Waldo Jaquith
Need I say more?
Having to be a testicle, I am happily the testicle of a spork.
Well, I was thinking of subscribing, but after last nights x-files screwup I got to thinking about how im getting my geek news. Fark and Google News appear to be decent shortterm alternatives. So instead of subscribing, I'm removing my /. link from my homepage and moving on.
Thanks for the sometimes interesting ride.
Please fire chrisd and jKatz. It won't make me come back, but it will at least restore some order to the universe.
Thanks,
Man Taco, that was some pretty decent writing there. I didn't notice any glaring misspellings or improper use of grammar. I'm impressed.
;)
Is that one of the plums that will come to subscribers of the New Slashdot?
Here are some of the reasons...
Thats what I would call true freedom..
And thats when you would get my money.
Let the Slashdot crowd decide which stories to post/discuss
Or we could have a totally different Slashdot page, where regardless of the main stories from the main page( where editors post) the slashdot community could slice and dice the stories that come in from others like us.
Wait, isnt that what Kuroshin is all about ?? Yes!.. but they dont have a community like the slashdot community.
Rapid Nirvana
What's the /. owner's take on ad blocking software?
I think that it's becoming much more common.
I've never bothered to install ad blocking software, but I recently upgraded my firewall software (zonealarm) and it came with new ad blocking features. I figured, what the hell, turned it on, and wow! It's really nice. I wouldn't want to go back to browsing without it.
I think that this is the beginning of a trend and we're going to see ad blocking software built in to anti-virus software, web browsers, etc...
I've also just "subscribed" to google, by signing up for their adwords system. Its pretty nifty - I've had 452 people see my ad, for just over a fiver (the fiver being their account setup charge -- per-click costs add up to only 0.34 in a week). Its fun to subject that many people to your points of view for 0.34 a week -- give it a go, people! :)
("Microsoft" is going for only 0.37 per click -- but remember your linux advocacy HOWTO's...)
Max ads!!! PATENT man patent and then sue the ass out of everybody else
My Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
FB : https://www.facebook.com/TanveersPhotography
Slashdot's moderation system is pretty good and pretty unique. How about pushing the envelope a bit further?
How about an option where subscribers can see all the stories submitted and vote on them? The highest moderated stories could the bubble up to a "subscriber selected" page, viewable by all. The editors could then decide if the subscriber selected stories were good enough for the front page mix.
I could expand on this, but I want to post this before the thread runs to 400 posts. You get the idea. Subscribers want control. Push the envelope!
-Russ
Me
- Spell check the articles even if you didn't write it.
- Use proper grammar.
- Make edits if the submitter mispells something, has poor grammar, or screws up the links.
- Make sure the links go to the right place.
- Remove unnecessary links. We don't need to link to CNN's home page every time we write the letters "CNN." Just link to the article or issue at hand.
- Before accepting an article, search your own damn site to ensure that it's not something you've approved to post before.
Do all of this and you'll have my money.Prevent email address forgery. Publish SPF records for y
Cool, now we can pay them via credit card to unapologetically ruin the endings to TV shows!
Where do I sign up?!
PS - I stupidly already subscribed. Can you please promise me that none of my $5 went to chris dibona or Jon Katz? Thanks!
In other words, right now, I have access to everything, and once the "Plums" start, I'll only have access to some things.
That's when I'll go.
Ellen
mods metamodded as "Unfair"
Maybe you can have a plum option, "don't bother showing me repeat articles, cause if I wasn't interested once, I'm not interested now"?
This for me is the biggest reason I won't pay for slashdot. Don't get me wrong, I think slashdot is great, and definitely worth what I pay for it, just not worth a whole lot more.... If I really want to see repeats, I can quickyl enough browse the 1/2 dozen sites that slashdot get most of their stories from anyway...
I am abstaining from the blackout because I think it is fundamentally misguided.
I like the Slashdot moderation system. It is the best system I've seen for handling the turd-tossers who want to ruin resources like Slashdot. They are not prevented from tossing their turds, they just get modded down to -1. Anyone who wants to examine their faecal projectiles can browse the comments at -1. (Have you tried that lately? Can you imagine trying to read a discusssion if you couldn't block that shit?)
- Have a picture
I suggest that when /. stories are approved, they be visible only to subscribers for 15 minutes. During that time, posting would be locked, so subscribers wouldn't dominate the discussions. It would be a Bad Idea to let people who pay have an edge in the debate.
/. effect shuts down the affected sites.
/. I'm sorry, but I'm cheap, and that's the reality of the situation.
The idea behind the suggestion is that subscribers would be able to actually read the stories before the
This is the only thing I can think of that would induce me to pay for
Slashhdot will probably make a fair amount of $$$ off of the banner free subscription idea, but this "deal" just doesn't add anythng of value. I mean, what kind of value is it for me to pay to not see ads, I see them everywhere as it is and have become accustomed to filtering them (mentally and proxy).
/.
Here's something that I might be willing to pay for (ideas stolen from Fark):
- Open the submission queue, there is a lot of cool stuff that doesn't get posted but people would still like to read it.
- Make it known who the subscribers are, kinda like bumper stickers for supporting the police.
- Open the submission queue to early comments by subscribers.
There is little value in regurgitation of other news outlets and given half the chance and motive there are plenty of sites that would love to replace
Hammer of Truth
Personally, I'd be willing to pay for slashdot, but I'm NOT going to do it just to get rid of the ads. And I think that a lot of other people feel this way too.
/. to make it worth it. But as for ads... seems like the majority of ads (not counting the banner ads at the top of the page which I really don't mind) are from doubleclick, which I have mozilla block... so as-is I'm not seeing a lot of the ads on /. already.
I think that the people over at LiveJournal have the right idea. They don't make you pay for subscriptions... they don't beat you down with ads, but they have a way where if you like their site, you can pay them. And in return they reward you with some extra goodies that the unpaid users don't have access too.
I think that solution would work here too... I can think of a couple of decent features you could add to
Besides, there's nothing that says that I can't go to the Palm Pilot version of slashdot, which has no graphical ads at all. So, given that there are a lot of different news sites out there, there's nothing wrong with subscriptions, but you have to make your site stand out above the others if you go to that. If you don't people will just get fed up and go elsewhere.
-Through the server, over the router, off the firewall... Nothing but 'Net!
I know I am a maniac, but I tend to hit reload on the main page quite often, just to see if there's a new story I am interested in. I don't think I am alone in this. It looks like this actually counts for 1 page each time :--(
Of course this is a purely commercial decision, but just for the record, this system will probably lead me to read /. less than I used too. I know I could leave the banner on on the main page, but in this case I would feel like I paid my subscription for no benefit.
So what about counting the main page for 1 hit each day. Even a system where the main page would count for say 3 or 5 pages, and with a cap, for example 40 reloads per day would be better. I would feel that I get better value for my money as it would not require me to change my browsing habits to take advantage of the subscription.
Look, that's why there's rules, understand? So that you think before you break 'em. (Terry Pratchett)
If someone steals your credit card number you will only pay at most $50 by law.
If someone steals your debit card number as time passes without it being reported your protection decreases. After a certain period you no longer have any protection and the theft can clean out your account.
Frobozz Pentathon VII Computer - $1799
US Robotics 56K Modem - $79
Mordaft Linux 8.5 - $29
Slashdot Subscription - $5
Getting f1rst p0St - Priceless
At a site whose name I will not mention because we're still trying to deal with the last batch of slashdot refugees that showed up.
Best Slashdot Co
but I think Members should be able to read stories first. Have a 10 minute delay for non members.
Maybe "Gold" members will have the smallest delay.
Only people that are logged on will have first posts. Its not likely people will pay money to be the first troll.
Value added. Slashdot members will be more likely to see sites before the slashdot affect.
This may also help to lower peak website traffic on linked sites.
easily implemented code.
and most importantly, Because I said so :-)
Print out the email receipt that comes with your subscription, and tack on the $5 to your next expense report. After all, doesn't your company pay for subscriptions and training materials? Odds are they won't balk at the $5, and if you've ever sent your coworkers a juicy news item via a Slashdot link, then you're totally justified. I bet your boss won't even blink at it - $5 for this is a much better value than a magazine subscription.
What's your damage, Heather?
Overzealous use of acronyms
Another sign it's a troll: All the words in the post are properly spelled!
Next we'll be seeing guys claiming to be Hemos and Jamie posting comments here...
Best Slashdot Co
you hurt my brain.
PIDFTOUWEP?
?
?!
I'm a big retard who forgot to log out of Slashdot on Mike's computer! LOOK AT ME.
Why are you moving back to Michigan? Too hot here in the South for ya?
Best Slashdot Co
Tangentially... Can mozilla block Flash on a per-site basis yet, like the "block images from this server"? Or do I have to get my hands dirty in the code?
Topical banner ads, I'll tolerate, sometimes I even click on 'em here, but I have yet to see a Flash ad that was not the work of the devil. (And I think I saw one here earlier today.. in that intrusive non-banner area.. wish I'd known it wasn't supposed to be allowed.)
Huh? Banner ads take up a fraction of my bandwidth. I (and probably 99.9999% of the world's population) have no problem with the banner ads. You want money, talk to my ISP. That's where my money goes to and nobody else.
Yuioup.
Why not just call it Cashdot. I even thought up a new logo for you: "$."
there are 3 kinds of people:
* those who can count
* those who can't
Magazines also tend to be aesthetically pleasing, and relatively free of spelling & grammar errors, which /. is not. On the plus side, magazines tend to be about a month behind on the news curve, at least here I get things pretty much as they happen.
Bottom line is you won't see me paying for /. (even though I read it probably 10 times a day) until it:
-Looks like something I want to pay for
-Works like something I want to pay for (How about a 'forgot your password' link on the post comment page, instead of Main page/Login Box/Create Account/Forgot Password)
-Gets rid of JonKatz (I swear I'm not a troll! I'm just literate, so sue me)
Slashdot isn't selling information... it's charging rent for bandwidth usage and server space.
My journal has hot
I think there are a couple ways to look at all this. Sure, I don't think paying for an ad-free site is worth the money. Personally, I consider the subscriptions to be more of a tip jar. I contributed not to get rid of the ads, but rather just to give a little back. The only thing that bothers me out of all this is though, is that I know Katz is going to get some of that money, and that REALLY gets under my skin.
Keep Austin Weird!
the throwing-quarters-in-the-guitar-case dept.
That's odd. I've never seen a street musician who gets other people to volunteer to play for him, while he collects all the money.
The goatse guy for president. Win one for the gaper!
What was he before 911?
Chris
So really who did? It took this long to "iron" these things out? Any good company would have done the research to expect these things. Well at leat M$ would have. -- Fuck 'em if they can't take joke!
A far, far easier way to avoid the /. effect is for /. to simply keep a local (local to /. and the andover colocs) cache of the page. Link to that instead of to the actual site. The /. network is set up for that much load; a home enthusiast's cable modem isn't.
Maybe replace the link-to-cache with the link-to-real after 24 hours, or a week, or whatever. There's probably lots of tweaking possible here that I haven't even thought of, much less posted. My point is that /. has the capability to shoulder some of those slashdottings, at least briefly.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
The code cannot prevent page widening.
The friend/foe system is useless.
Editors cannot spell or do simple research.
The site looks like it was designed in 1996.
Fix these things first.
I might get another subscription if you drop paypal =)
(not that I didn't just get 5...)
What ads? Oh you mean those little empty boxes that say "Error 404, cannot load image"? Too bad advertisers don't think text ads are worthwhile, because on a hyper-techie site like slashdot, you HAVE to expect at least a good portion of those folks are going to be even halfway intelligent about blocking ads.
I'm sorry slashdot, but if your advertisers are too stupid to figure out that the demographic on this damn site is very unimpressed with large content-free ads, if they are too ignorant to comprehend that most of thier ads will pass unseen, and the ones that don't will be loathed, if they are so unfathomably clueless as to believe that I will, for a nanosecond, contemplate purchasing something from thier ad instead of, as is my usual wont, telling all of my friends and family NOT to purchase from them, then they deserve what they get... nada.
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
How about a 10 minute (or according to what subscription level) head start over the average viewer?
Avoid the slashdot effect, as it were.
GPL Deconstructed
Star Office 6 downloads.
But don't let all subscribers have it.
you could contact small businesses, and say "hey, if you don't pay us $$$, we will post a story about you that will result in your entire years bandwidth allowance being used up by lunchtime!!!"
all the money Slashdot makes should be donated to the poor sites that get slashdotted. Ever stop and think about the webservers that get crushed in the process? It equals downtime for everyone else who doesnt give a damn about a hub in a teddy bear.
You spelled it wrong.
;)
It's Lunix.
... would be access to the rejected bin. i pay $5 a month for full access to totalfark, and its worth it there. give access to the reject bin here, and you may well get more subscribers.
With something like the Proxomitron
(dun, Dun, DUNNN! )
(Sorry, but whenever I mention the Proxomitron (dun, dun DUNN! ), I am compelled to add the authoritative interlude)
2% is good? Wow.
they get 20,000 subscribers they'll release the slashcode!
Check out ioquake3.org for a great, free, First-Person Shooter engine!
I'm a slashdot advertiser as well as a subscriber. I've selected "No Ads" for Homepage, Stories, as well as Comments but I'm still seeing ads in all "Post Comment" pages as well as everything under users.pl.
What does it take to remove the ads? :-)
I'd buy a subscription but they lied with the new ad types and have pushed Flash ads in here anyway so I won't subscribe to get rid of the ads.
:)
That's a decent Catch-22 I figure
In Soviet Russia...michael would be rotting in Siberia!
Well this prolly wont get read cause its so far down in the comments but here it goes... Slashdot has a wonderful opportunity here. They have a huge user base and could do wonders with it. By coming out with a subscription based system that offers nothing but no ads there is no reason for anyone to subscribe. They completely blew an oppotunity with this one. If they had planned out a bunch of features that subscribers would get before hand and had them all planned out and ready to be released when they announced their subscription plan , people would be subscribing. Only 2% of the community has subscribed so far, shouldnt that be telling them that they are doing something wrong? Come on guys you can do better than this. Hire someone using your ad money to help write you up a nice business plan.
- he doesn't say anything new (valid)
- he doesn't make a point (valid)
- he just uses buzz word and catch phrases (valid)
- his stories are generally not liked around here.
The last one is my personal opinion, and the opinion of soooo many other people. It is insulting to me that he is allowed to continue posting. For a free service, I'll make my opinion known, and leave it at that. But I won't subscribe as long as he posts. You may say "don't read it then!" but that isn't the point. The point is that I consider it an insult to the readers. If this were truly a community where people were heard, his reign of globalism internet paradigm riddled stories would have been piped to /dev/null long ago.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
I still think this page counting punishes the most valuable readers most. Charging a flat monthly fee would give more - not less - value for active posters.
In Murphy We Turst
I don't see the ads anyway. I use a little tool called the Proxomitron. It's a universal web filter. I have it set not to display any banner ads or pop up/under ads.
get the hacked junkbuster that changes the ad's to a 1x1 pixel Voila! no-ad's slashdot (AFTER you configure it... some are tricky)
I'm betting that hemos or taco will mod this down to -11 revinue-hurting
Just remove his articles, believe it or not, everyone doesn't think like you. Some of us have our own opinions on the matter and like to see what the crackpots have to say from time to time.
I'm having a bit of a dilemma. I'm happy to pay Slashdot in order to keep it going, but sometimes a banner pops up that's interesting. I know it sounds silly, but like 3 times now I've seen a banner pertaining to something I was seeking. For example, I want an MP3 player that can play mini-CD's to travel with. *Gasp* I saw an ad for one at ThinkGeek.com, and now I'm considering purchasing it.
So if I get the subscription, I lose the ads. I guess Slashdot wins either way, but if I pay for Slashdot I'd like to get a little bit more benefit than just no ads.
One idea is that I'd like to see who mods me down. I think somebody'd be more careful about modding me down as troll when they know that I know who's doing it. Here's an example:
http://www.nanogator.com/slashdot.jpg
See that, within 6 minutes I had several posts modded down as Troll. If you look up a bit you can see that my other posts take about 20 minutes in between to get moderated. Anybody else think this is a bit suspiscious?
I really don't care so much about getting modded down, but I do think the quality of the moderations would go up if some of the 'premium members' know who's doing it. Afterall, if I'm paying to visit the site *and* look at the ads, its less likely that I'm here to just cause trouble.
That's all it'd take for me. I'm not demanding typo-free articles (damn people are anal about that, heh) or anything like that. I'd just like my time spent contributing to Slashdot worth more.
"Derp de derp."
It's grammar.
Best Slashdot Co
And it hasn't been for over two years now. Why is this particular piece of FUD so hard to stamp out? Debit cards from Visa/MC have the exact same level of liability, specifically none, with no limitation on how soon you need to report the card lost/stolen.
Visa:
Card Comparison chart, notice that all the check cards are covered by Zero Liability.
Information on Visa's Zero Liability Policy.
Mastercard:
Debit MasterCard features, notice their own Zero Liability Policy listed.
Information on the MasterCard Zero Liability Policy.
But gaffs like the Lone Gunmen thing today are complately inexcusable. It didn't matter to me -- I saw it live last night, but its rare these days that I watch TV live, and was just a fluke.
;-)
I don't think the story was at all necessary, and shouldn't have been posted with spoilers on the homepage no matter what time it was posted.
It sucks to say it, but four years ago, I would've subscribed in a heartbeat, but the ratio of interesting stories to recycled crap has changed so dramatically on here, its basically force of four or five years habit that I check the site a few times a day.
It'd probably be easier to quit smoking!
I filter all ads. No money for fucktard Rob and his cronies!
Is it just a coincidence that microsoft ads started popping up above this post? Looks like the editors have been taking some classes in "strategic marketing" :)
"I wish I had a Kryptonite cross, because then you could keep both Dracula AND Superman away." --Jack Handy
I am happy /. user and pretty sure I will be a subscriber soon. For now, the ads are completely no bother, so I dont really have any particular motivation.
However, something I would love, would be the possibility of viewing the comments with expand/collapse buttons. I like to view at threshold 0, so one thread can get biig, and I easily loose track of what sub-thread I am reading. What I would like to do would be to collapse the thread, so I can immediatly skip to the next one. This means every single comment which has sub-comments, would be expand/collapsable.
Another improvement: When I have mod points, it always bothers me that I have to select the comments I want to mod, and then, at the end of the page, I submit. Often I forget, and follow a link somewhere. A system I think works a lot better in this respect, is that of Half-Empty. When you see a comment you want to rate, you do so immediatly, but the page handling the rating is opened in a new tiny window in the background. This way I immediatly vote, and I dont move away from the discussion Im interested in, or forget to mod.
-Kraft
Live and let live
If you guys mirrored the articles you posted, i would definetely consider subscribing.
/. blackouter who couldnt resist this thread....)
(another
So, finally, I have reached a point where I am ashamed of myself. What I would like is the ability to pay, say, $30 or so for a year and have the ability to direct that amount to fund the people who say interesting things on slashdot.
Thanks.
John Katz is still going to be on /. isn't he? Grumble...
You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
Yet another subscription idea:
Take a page from online stock tickers, which show 20-minute delayed values for non-subscribers, and realtime information for subscribers. If Slashdot did the same, it would mean that subscribers have access to new articles 20 minutes (or some other reasonable value) before non-subscribers, allowing them to beat the Slashdot effect, plus the ability to post comments before everyone else.
This benefit could be used in conjunction with, or separately from the existing no-ads system for subscribers, and IMHO it would draw many more subscribers than the no-ads system.
"It is a mathematical fact that the casting of this pebble from my hand alters the centre of gravity of the universe."
At those settings, the subscription fee for a year on Slashdot would be on par with a typical magazine.
Is the editing quality on par with a typical magazine? Does it feature photography and color? Can I take it to the beach?
It will be kinda ad-free tho. Whoopee. So really I am not paying for product, I am paying you to partially de-cripple the product that you already have.
I guess I would click on adds that I see if I cared even a little bit for what they are advertising. Am I that far removed from "normal" society that I don't relate to almost 100% of all adds?
:-)
The only adds that I have clicked on from slashdot all lead to thinkgeek.com.
Then I read the above post.
Opening the submission queue would BE a kind of a Slashdot zeitgeist.
Too cool!
(After reading some of the stupid comments, complaints, trolls, blackout calls goatsex, portman idiocy, etc....)
Limit posting of comments to those who subscribe and thus are helping to pay for bandwitdh.
Running with Linux for over 20 years!
I agree with you on the Lone Gunman thing- I read a spoiler about it a few weeks ago so I already knew what was going to happen. But Chris blew it. He knows it. He got the shit flamed out of him. He deserved it. But he apologized, and you can't un-say things. It's not like we're posting headlines every day with shit like 'Vader is Lukes Father' or something. It's a rarity.
Pants are still optional, but recommended for you.
Out of curiousity, who does /. use for the accpetance of credit cards?
"There ought to be limits to freedom"
Complaint number two was from people who didn't like the metered subscriptions. Again, this is a very valid complaint. I've already explained why it was essential that we impose some sort of limits, so what we've implemented is a new option called Max Ads. What it does is limit the number of pages you choose to view ad free on any given day. By default, that is 10. So even if you view slashdot 20 times a day, your $5 subscription will still last 100 days with the default setting of 10 Max Ads. Of course, you can up that number too.
This does allieviate the major inconvenience of the system, wondering when you're subscription is going to run out, but the fact still remains that the contributors are paying more. It's really now a point of whether or not the remaining issue of that principal is big enough to cause a problem. I personally won't be subscribing no matter what you do (I'm a university student with little $$ and am not in the habit of spending money online) but I do support the idea, I was also participating in the blackout (although I may reevaluate that now given the changes).
I stole this Sig
Give me the old days when people spelled things however they damn well pleased, like:
"The pyrate stole my hatts, three score bookes, and a pounde of sylk cloths."
Here's an interesting quote:
"Most people throughout much of the history of the English language have seemed remarkably unconcerned about niceties of spelling -- even to the point of spelling one word two ways in the same sentence. People were even casual about their names. More than eighty spellings of Shakespeare's name have been found. Shakespeare himself did not spell the name the same way twice in any of his six known signatures and even spelled it two ways in one document, his will. [Bill Bryan, The Mother Tongue: English And How It Got That Way, New York, William Morrow, 1990, pp. 124-5]"
c-hack.com |
Personally, I don't mind the ads. I am subscribing today - but only to help out slashdot, not to avoid ads. Is there no decent system for micropayments yet? What if there was a 2 cent charge to post a reply or opinion? I wouldn't mind that. Just so long as the transaction is effortless (paypal is NOT effortless)
Whoa! He said log heheheheheheheheheheh!!!
It's not like we're posting headlines every day with shit like 'Vader is Lukes Father' or something.
<sarcasm>
What the hell? He is?? Thanks for ruining the surprise, Taco. Now I'm going to go burn my TV because you ruined the surprise. And forget about getting my five bucks.
</sarcasm>
<flame>
IMHO, anyone who couldn't see a spoiler coming ten miles away (it's the X-Files and it's Slashdot; put two and two together) deserved to get the surprise ruined.
</flame>
Seriously, though, Taco, keep up the good work. Having nothing to do is no fun without Slashdot to read. I'll be subscribing as soon as I get the cash (being an unemployed 16-year-old sucks).
Want Linux games? HERE.
...so i'm not going to pay per page [ad] here. do the math and come up with a monthly/yearly flat subscription, and some of us might take the time to break out the credit cards.
Why not give a discount for buying in bulk? Perhaps something along the lines of "Buy $25 worth of views at once and get an extra $5 for free." (6000 views instead of 5000).
"Evil will always triumph because good is dumb." -- Dark Helmet
I subscribed. And I have been generally okay with the subscription thing (though I will next time take advantage of visa as opposed to paypal).
Here is what I would recommend:
1. (Why I'm supporting the blackout) Quit lying about $rtbl. Document the fucker. Even if you say "If we think you are a moderation abuser, by our own definition, we'll blacklist you; here is how the blacklist works" that would be okay. sllort has explained this problem in great detail.
2. Better journal features. Ability to mod comments in my journal would be really nice, for example.
3. Messaging. I have a big friends/fans list but can't send them messages. Yet there is a message center. Put these two together?
4. Schwag. ThinkGeek sells all sorts of slashdot crap. Send me some for hitting certain subscription levels - e.g. $50 cumulative spend gets you a hat.
5. Automatic google cache links. Duh.
The one thing I don't want is the early-posting privilege. Sure it's stupid, but even though I have karma 50 I still like to fp, and the fp'ers and crapflooders are actually pretty damn funny sometimes. Without that, as Taco said, it wouldn't be slashdot. So add the auto-link to the google cache (#5) but let anyone fp.
Just out of curiosity, don't you want to improve your grammar just for your own personal betterment as a human being? I mean, English is your first language, right? Don't you want to feel like you're competent in it? I don't mind spelling or grammar errors at all, and I don't really see why people get so upset over them, as though they can't interpret what you're saying (well, unless the grammar is really really bad) but I think that you and everyone else would want to improve their spelling and grammar just so you don't look back on what you read later and feel like an idiot.
/. readers who bitch about grammar and spelling with posts containing errors of their own.
It's a skill like anything else in life. Just because you want your work to have that authentic feel to it doesn't mean that you can't pay attention to what you type. This goes for everyone, especially the
"I may not have morals, but I have standards."
and you can't un-say things.
Well, that's somewhat true, but he could have easily edited the story as it was posted on the site -- something which he admitted but said he was "loathe to do", IIRC. He could have saved some people some grief, but chose not to. I can see defending him the first time, but how do you explain the second? It seems to show disregard for your customers -- some of whom are now paying customers. While I'm sure that doesn't really mean anything, the fact is he could have fixed his error but chose not to, which makes this even more offensive. His response was that it is "just tv," which, while true, is a callous attitude to take.
rooooar
Well, actually we've all seen stories appear and disappear on here, and its pretty easy to jump into a database and start changing fields. A lot of people saw the spoiler last night out on the west coast before it was on, but two guys at work today flipped out because they had neither seen the spoiler or the episode yesterday, and the problem *could've* been fixed for them today. The story could've been removed, or the headline and description could've been changed to make it clear that there was a serious spoiler and not to click on it if you haven't seen the episode.
:)
Don't mind me though, its a dreary, snowy April Monday, and I have my summer tires on my car, so I'll be taking the T home if the weather doesn't improve. So I'm just bitter.
so when is the name change going to happen?
If not thank god for the new blocking images feature in mozilla.
One of the major reasons slashdot.org needs money is to pay for servers and bandwidth. Would it be possible to distribute some of that workload across the our own computers mirroring the most often used content? Maybe front page static content can be cached all over the place and updated every few hours. Links to these "cached" peers could be placed in the real site to move traffic off the main servers.
Each peer could allocate a certain ammount of spare bandwidth to slashdot. High bandwidth contributors would receive more "plums" (much like a higher paying slashdot user today).
Non-paying (or non-hosting) subscribers would see the delayed content, and paying/hosting subscribers would see the fresh stuff directly from the slashdot servers.
--TwinkieStix
Well, what do you know, I don't either!
Of course, I don't read his stuff. Anymore.
I would desparately love to be able to read /. stories & comments via NNTP. The ability to kill some threads and use more advanced filtering (and killfiles!) like a real newsreader gives you would be highly valuable.
You'd have to charge for it differently than page views, of course, but I'd be happy to pay per KB or per comment for it.
Heck, considering that it would implicitly filter out ads also, I'd be willing to pay more than my current subscription price.
we now can directly accept Credit Cards in addition to paypal.
Watch out for paypal, here is my experience. That's not the end of it either. One class action suit is already in progress against Palpal, for exactly the things they've done to me, and another is apparently pending.
At least, include a warning not to give Paypal any more of your money than you are willing to kiss goodbye for an indefinite period, for no good reason.
There are alternatives, notably Billpoint which at least hasn't done anything evil to me yet.
Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
I use WebWasher, so I won't see the ads anyway, but I bought my subscription because:
1. I enjoy the service I get from slashdot (access to filtered, mostly interesting eclectic news)
2. I don't want to see them go away.
Keep up the good work, lads and lasses!
I know it's childish, but do you ever catch flack for being #2
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Overrated / Underrated : Moderation
The ad's aren't that bad either, I dunno if the ad's are broken or what... but most of the time I don't see ad's on the comments pages.
May seem crazy, but a lot of ad's are useful (especially on slashdot). What options do I have if I wanted to see the ad's and support/donate to sladhdot? Would it be possible to set the number of no-ad pages to 0 (zero) or something like that?
...will you stop posting X-Files spoilers on the front page???
Being able to see all the submissions would be real neat.
Also, being able to disregard and all posters who bitch about being modded up or down (esp. those who dare the mods to take 'em down) would be excellent plums.
Some of us have fallen in love with the notion of giving without reserve-Raoul Vanegiem, Revolution of Everyday Life
why don't you sell understandable instructions/support for slashcode? i mean the site tools are obviously very powerful and something that a ton of people (of all levels) would love to leverage. unfortunately installing a slash site is impossible for anyone but a perl/apache guru! sure there's a way to make money but trying to make money off a user-driven content model is just this side of absured. making money from a product...now your talking. i'd probably pay to learn how to set up a slash site. just my .02.
mary jane capri - managing editor monkeypantz.net For every woman who burned her bra, there is a man ready to wear one
I'm going to take advantage of the low post number due to the blackout and mention my situation.
/. but a bunch of daily links?
First, I don't mind the ads. I'm glad they're not too intrusive for me and you guys are still getting the revenue from me being here, subscription or no.
Second, thanks for the credit card option. I was worried about PayPal, so I can subscribe now.
But I won't, at least not yet. I'm still a student with 0 income, so I can't afford to subscribe here, as much as I'd like to. Once I have an income, you guys and Penny Arcade are going to be the first subscriptions I get, but not until I can afford it. I'm guessing that since there are a lot of students around here, I'm not outside of a general trend.
As for what I want, I like the idea of having a five to ten minute delay for non-subscribers on new stories, so that subscribers can initiate discussion. The subscribers are likely to be the ones who care about the site most, and are most willing to post intelligently. It'll provide a good baseline of quotes to start an intelligent discussion.
I'd like to see subscribers who got $rtbl'ed get their mod priveleges back. These are people who care about the site (perhaps too much) enough to subscribe, and simply trying to improve the site by modding a discussion on it shouldn't deny them the ability to fully participate. While this could be seen as buying your way back in, it is much easier to just make a new account and karma whore your way to the top than subscribing. Subscribing shows that they care enough to deserve mod privledges.
I like the idea of giving all subscribers the +1 bonus at a lower base karma, for the same reasons. These people care enough to subscribe, so perhaps give them +1 at 15 or 10.
All in all, subscription benefits should target posters and posting in general. Those who subscribe will do so because they care about the real content of the site, which is the discussion. As such, they deserve to be rewarded in that area. I believe Taco when he says that most people only pay attention to the front page, but I think he, and all the other editors, also know that the comments are what make the site what it is, which is why I'm not participating in the blackout. Subscribing should be used, like the mod system before it, in order to facilitate and improve the comments. Because without the discussion, what is
"I may not have morals, but I have standards."
A similar system for slashdot could be a very interesting snapshot of the geek/nerd community.
Perhaps too interesting? A few offhanded comments in the past by /. editors have indicated that the majority of the hits on /. are from Windows machines running MSIE. Would disclosing the true numbers be traumatic to the /. community?
Even more fun: have a plum for showing the OS/browser for posters. How many of the "L1NUX R00L5!" folks are posting from their parents Win98 box running AOL?
Eric, posting from Mozilla 0.99 on W2K.
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
like i'd ever pay -
popups and ads don't bother me at all, like they apparently do to a lot of the whiners here.
Nice work in getting the payment service working. What system are you using to process the credit cards? Is there a site/method you recommend for the rest of us who want to accept credit cards on our websites but not use paypal/billpoint/etc.?
I'm missing the all important option that allows me to give you $15 today and not get an add until the 22nd of April, 2003.
-michael
If I pay for the subscription, do I still get to keep the spoilers? It would be really annoying if I lose out on the ability to have my TV viewing ruined.
If anyone is really addicted to Slashdot they should consider the bulk discount option. When you order 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 units (1000 page blocks) the cost is a mere $49,999,999,999,999,995,805,696.00 instead of the normal $50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Order now while stocks last.
Never.
t_t_b
I'm on PJ's "enemies" list! Are you?
I am probably in the same boat as some of the others, I don't care about the adds *that* much because at most, I've only seen two on a page.
:) while not taking away too much of your ad revenue.
I still intend to subscribe to help support Slashdot.
Here is my suggestion, when the user is actively contributing to the site, (e.g. just submitted a moderation, meta-moderation, or comment) have that one single page load not count against their ad blocking tally. If they sit there and hit F5 or change their threshold, I am fine with that counting. I think that this would be an easy way to alleviate the distress of your active posters (some of whom won't ever see this comment due to the blackout.
All I wanted was a rock to wind a piece of string around, and I ended up with the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota
not flack... toilet paper.
I don't care about the adds, so why should I pay?
/. .
Now, lets begin with how they can get my money.
1. Offer services that I can use to intergrate their news. They can and should beable to expand on this.
2. Discounts on other "sister" company services and products. (Like thinkgeek)
3. Allow users with paid perscriptions to post things with an easier/nicer "lameness" filter.
I am sure there are other things that you can charge for with out devauling
The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive
A /. mirror would be illegal. That is assuming, of course, that you did not go through the trouble of contacting every person who has ever posted & get their permission to reproduce their comment.
Well, what about an opt-out system?
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
A system that I think would work for slashdot is to give the top, say 10% of people on slashdot, ranked by number of stories accepted and also by karma, and give them a free subscription. This would encourage people to continue creating more and better content, while freeloaders would be forced to pay for their ability to view the site comfortably.
/gleffler
Better content, happier posters--it seems to work out all the way around.
On the other hand, ads are dead. What good are ads anyway? They only make pages load slower, waste bandwidth, and most importantly, they make the products I would buy anyway more expensive. So rather than pay another 1 buck (of whatever currency) for a product, I'd rather pay that 1 buck directly. If you would let me do it.
I think we are going to see some nasty situations soon. Obviously, banner ads are going to fail miserably soon. Ad-filtering software is being implemented in browsers, people are starting to really hate them. Joe Sixpack too. As a response, I think we might see more attempts to force you to look at them.
Content providers gotta eat too. They need the money. We ads failing, we are going to see more and more closed models, and the big content industry will lobby bad laws through that may go a long way in making sure it will be very difficult for independent journalism to get exposure. I don't know how exactly this is going to be, but then, I really couldn't imagine how bad DMCA was going to be. Given the track record I would say, be very afraid.
So, I think that to save free speech, we, the free software and open source communities have to start developing stuff to facilitate a move away from free as in beer. We must abandon free beer to get free speech.
This is how I would pay for Slashdot:
When I surfed on Slashdot, the browser recorded what I did, and along with it, payment information, inserted not only by /. editors, but also those who made comments. This payment information would include what /. editors would think a story should cost. Say once a week, I would review the stuff I had surfed, and authorize payments. Some money would go to /. for their editorial efforts, for hardware, etc. Some money would even go to posters of comments I would find insightful.
There would have to be short path between me, making payments, and receivers of payments, so banks would have to get involved, and they would have to rethink many things, and realize it doesn't cost that much to perform simple database queries.
In fact, this would not only apply to Slashdot, I would like to pay pretty much every newspaper and journal I read online this way. Also, I'd like to be paid for the content I provide myself this way. It should be big.
It requires involvement from many parties, and we really should have standards. Unfortunately, W3C's E-commerce activity died a horrible death. A good start would be implementation in browsers, and we can do that. After all, if we make something that works, and we're actually making money this way, they ought to come running. Making money by having a shortest possible path between end-users and content providers should be attractive to everyone.
Employee of Inrupt, Project Release Manager and Community Manager for Solid
When you are reading a big discussion, and you come across a comment that you want to moderate, just right-click on the "#3388399" link in its header. Open the comment by itself in a new window (or new tab).. moderate it there... close the window and get back to reading the rest of the discussion.
"The Crystal Wind is the Storm, and the Storm is Data, and the Data is Life"
(Well, looking at my username, this one should come as no shock.)
e-gold has many advantages. I once again offer a small click of the stuff to anyone who replies to my email address with an account number. e-gold Ltd. won't sell/trade/give away your information (because they need it to be accurate).
Now that we have things like http://www.fastsci.com and http://www.clicktwocents.com our shopping cart interface is MUCH easier to use, and recent news indicates that it may be more secure than some other methods of selling things online.
Since e-gold tipjars are (IMNSHO) the ideal musicians' solution to the Napster/RIAA problems, I am hoping that these sites become widely popular, (suggestions welcome)! Thanks.
JMR
Try e-gold - (contact me). I'm NOT e-
How about an enhanced search mechanism. Search on comment subjects, comment authors, story submitters, any one of the above but with a moderation total of x+....
Or maybe let subscribers see ALL the comments they've posted instead of just the last 24...
But until then, why would someone who is being treated as a second-class citizen care a whim to give you a dime? Lift the fucking RTBL ban already.
Mod me down. It's only Karma.
I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
my biggest gripe with the subscription system is that non-paying users that don't subscribe and moderate are the ones that are making the system really work. it seems to me that the act of moderation by users should have some impact on subscription cost since it is not a trivial action.
Interesting idea. Possible having us be able to select our ads? (I.E. 3/5 of the time, I want NO ads, 1/5 I want OSDN sites, 1/5 be devoted to just ThinkGeek, and 0/5 do I want DoubleClick)
--joshua
Fat chance. Not only am I NOT going to subscribe, but I'm going to cease clicking on your ads and buying stuff at ThinkGeek. Hopefully if enough of us WestCoasters do so, ChrisD will end up jobless, homeless and without a television.
Actually, I don't really want to be subscribed. What I really want is to be able to go and donate $25 to /. as a "Tip Jar". Or something like "giving" subscriptions, as in paying $5 and the next 1000 ACs won't have ads, or a friend of mine won't have ads. I'd even pay a premium for that, if it went to /.... (Slashdot, dot dot dot....)
Just my $5 (I guess $0.02 doesn't work here?)
--joshua
(ah and the servers are being flaky, slow, and unreliable. I guess I shoulda paid before...)
I really like /. and would like to support it but you're going to have to set up a one off, no risk payment plan, probably snail mail, otherwise I'm out. Also I really think if you're not selling a service (there is an argument that by limiting ads you are and well and good), and, you're soliciting funds as goodwill, then you should open the books as would any charity, community group. BTW: /. ads are unobtrusive yet informative and should be the poster ads for all others to follow by example.
First my dad had a _real_ bad experience with credit cards on the net and I fundamentally distrust the net as a place to do business, (having said that I do all I can to make it a place where business can and will thrive..it's where I live). I simply haven't put any sensitive info on my browser machine, it's there as a filter, firewall and all, like a fence to keep out the bad guys. Unfortunately there is no way anyone can be sure personal info will not be swiped and/or sold. The chances are any one transaction is as safe on the net as off unless you've been targeted. Just because your paranoid it doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.
Off/On Topic I think if you want to bring the posters on board *let* them pay to play the game they relish. Let subscribers play that Karma game without the cap. Many are the posters who can no more not express an opinion or crack a joke than leave a Tokyo pichinco(sp) hall. :)
Whatever happens I think the /. team will act with... uhmm, hmmmmm, ermmm... yea, and, do it well too.
"Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
Cohen
Just an idea..
Question
http://www.ironfroggy.com/
You can stop the ad from 'playing' by right clicking on the ad and clicking off the 'loop' option.
because no matter what your settings are you can't turn the damn ads off!
Face it, people are stupid, and the internet is the place where they all meet.
Okay that's kind of wacky, but the idea suddenly struck me and I thought it'd be interesting to throw out there.
- Jonathan
What about targeting the ads by the slash topic? Apple topic gets Mac adds. Linux topic gets the Redhat ads. Microsoft gets the...uhhhm...stupid ads?
Anyway. It should improve the S/N ratio of the ads. If you can do that, I don't mind them.
Do not confuse duty with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different.Duty is a debt you owe to yourself.
Go to your phone keypad and type in:
SHOVE IT SLASHDOTT
It corresponds exactly to my CC number!!!
I would like a feature that the links in the posted stories open in new windows when I click on them. This would probably have to be a per-user preference that defaulted to OFF, but I'm probably not alone in wanting this. I usually shift-click to do this but it would be a tad more convenient if this was automatic. It would be double-nice if links posted in comments would be configurable this way as well.
Another small idea would be the facility for a link to a mirror of a slashdotted resource to automagically appear in the news posting if some kind karma-whore posts it in the comments. It happens often: site is slashdotted, and someone has posted a link to a mirror. Usually the post is moderated up quickly, and all I'm suggesting is some way for this information to propagate to the story posting, such as "[mirror here]" added to the text of the post. Obviously, this would have to be tightly controlled so that the goatse folks don't go crazy with it, so maybe it would have to be under the editors' or story-authors' control.
I would be happy to pony up a few bucks if these or some other minor features were added.
Why not Public Broadcasting (U.S. ) style pledge drives? Every december or something slashdot could just serve up a static page to non subscribers to donate a lot of money to pay for bandwidth?
He was 910, I'd guess...
NT
Palpal wouldn't accept my Bankcard or Visa, since my cards were not issued by a bank based in the USA. Automatic teller machines in most parts of the globe will accept them (including the UK, Argentina and Chile) but not paypal. I still don't know whether I'll pay a subscription, but at least now with the credit card option I can if I want to.
http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/373288p -3003840c.html
Bandwidth prices are the lowest for years. dont believe the hype!!!!
Besides every one scrolls down to read comments and the adds you dont see. AH
I'm failing to see how the .org domain works here. Part of a publically owned company, working to make a profit.
Well, I'm off to chevrolet.org to pick up one of the last camaros.
I've coded up NNTP support for Slash. Check out a demo at http://slash.zevils.com/ and news:zevils.com. It has support for limiting it only to subscribers and other neat stuff. Told Rob about it, and he said he was interested but I don't think he's had a chance to check it out yet. Also, I don't know Slashcode that well so it would be good if one of the Slashfolk vetted the code to make sure I was Doing The Right Thing. The code is here and my slashcode.com announcement is here. Is anyone interested in this?
you started to take credit cards so I could help /. out a little bit - it's a resource I use every day... too bad paypal is having such a tussle or I would've used 'em....
I've said it before, and I'll say it again - WEBWASHER!
I'm not going to pay you to remove ads for me. I've already got plenty of free software to do that, ummm, FOR FREE.
Now if you actually come up with something worth paying for, I'll consider sending you some money. But this bullshit about cleaning out the ads for money is ridiculous...
Concentrate on what would make the site worth paying for. Then quickly patent the idea so you can license it to every other fool out there on the Net who's trying to figure out how to make money w/o sucking off the advertisers' teat...
Slash is just another forum based site allowing users input how bland.
No. Perl is CmdrTaco's first language.
Loneliness is a power that we possess to give or take away forever
Oops, I forgot to change the link. Try it with microsoft.com
For what it's worth, I kinda like the ads here, since generally they're not obnoxious and they are on a topic I'm interested in.
I'd love a couple things ad related:
1. to be able to select the types of ads I'd like to see. For example, to see ads like Networking Products but not Hosting Solutions. Some ads just wouldn't fit a category but hey.
2. The ability to rotate an ad out and on to the next one. I'm looking at this SourceForge ad here and it's not doing much for me. I wonder if the next one up is something I'm more interested in...
M
not fortknox.
sulli
RTFJ.
1. I metamod. Sometimes I do have to wonder wtf the moderator was thinking... Something like this would greatly help me out. 2. When i moderate (rarely given how often i come here), I'd really like to give that extra sting into slapping somebody with a Troll or Flamebait mod ("-1, Troll, This Person Is A Monkey Felcher"). ;-)
News for Geeks in Austin, TX
I don't see why a non subscriber should have the benefit of being less likely to have an X-Files episode spoilt for them.......
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
It was a joke! The original poster said he was an Arab and a Muslim AFTER 911. Made me think "wonder what he was before if he wasn't those things until after 911".
Sorry for being obtuse.
Chris
That said, if I ever land a real job (or get enough contracts to do more than put the occasional bit of food on my table), I fully intend to subscribe to slashdot.
Need a Linux consultant in New Orleans?
That's ironic. My parent post got a Troll mod. If you read the rest of this thread, you'll find that kind of amusing. :)
"Derp de derp."
Waitaminnit! I thought that information wanted to be free *and* disseminated.
I thought that having someone filter information from me was to my detriment - after all, how do I know whether that person's bias is in conflict with my philosophy?
Isn't there some disconnect between being rabidly anti-filering on the one hand, and ticked because someone didn't filter a spoiler from you? Some people need to get a life!
Zoikes!
Anomaly
But Herr Heisenberg, how does the electron know when I'm looking?
How about the ability to opt-out of a particular company's ads (like X10)? I suggest this because I don't want to lose *all* the advertisements, just the ones that I find useless, obnoxious, or offensive (like X10).
-Paul Komarek
You are a unique and beautiful snow flake.
Moving back?
Does that mean the return of the oh-so-popular Geeks in Space ?
Withdrawal before climax is very ineffective and those who try this are usually called "parents."
now, I know 90 percent of the people who read slashdot can do this on their own, most are probably already doing it. Block the stupid ads, I mean there are a hundred ways to do it, you can use software like certain firewalls and configure them to block ads. You could do a google on the Ad Blocking Hosts File, which is what I use and it blocks 90 percent of all ads on the net for me, works nice... just put it in the right folder, hell edit it for your self and add the slashdot ad servers if you just wanna block those..... its not hard and that solution works cross platform :)
anyhow, Im probably just missing the point again... but hey, is their ever really a point to anything on slashdot?
I appologuise for my horrible spelling before someone else comments on it.... Im tired its 6AM, I've been up all night....and I just finished off the caffine sampler pack from thinkgeek.. leave me alone
I used to get pissed that I'd get the most unfair moderations possible. But it's impossible to do that now... you got modded offtopic for this?
CmdrTaco got modded offtopic, in his own story, on his own slashdot, for something 100% on topic, for something that would still be worth reading even if offtopic... etc.
Do I laugh or cry?
Please tell me the guy that did that now has -150 karma.
What the fuck? Vader is Lukes father?! Who the fuck neglected to tell me this?